This is an answer to Denise VB who directed her ode to bankers to me and others.(sorry, my picture is more rudimentary – but it’s complete)

The pretty painting having a chain of debt over everyone misses one important element: the fat banker yanking this chain and asking its subjects to tighten the belt and pay up. Tis whole debt obsession is a meme planted by the 1%. it’s to them the government is indebted (through the the R mantra of borrow and spend).

The government borrowed from Social security too, but the greedy geezers won’t ever get paid back – just punished for it with cuts. But the banks – we absolutely have to. Or do we?

What would it happen if we would starve ourselves and paid it all? What rewards?

I just happen to have a story to tell:

In the 70s, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided to pay off all his country’s debts. All states in the area were in debt and the interests were particularly high. For whatever reason (I think it was to be accepted in the West) he decided his people had to sacrifice all for it. Since it was a state owned economy and he was the state, it all geared up exclusively towards paying the debts.

Drastic cuts were instated – I remember every other street light being off in the city. I remember being cold in winter. Indoors. All production of basic goods was exported. Not only wasn’t meat available , the cook books featuring recipees with meat were banned.

Decades later, the debt was paid. The bankers were happy, Ceausescu had his account in Switzerland. As for the people? Still cold and starved. A revolution started motivated solely by the hatred of Ceausescu. He was overthrown, summarily tried and executed. The video of his execution played non-stop on Romanian TV. For weeks.

The story doesn’t stop here. After the other countries in East Europe changed their regimes, the banks forgave their debts – in order to do business with the new governments. They got to start fresh and are now in fairly good shape. Romania, which was traditionally one of the richest countries in the area is now one of the poorest. The Ceausescu blow is still being felt five decades later.

The opposite story: when Clinton was president, he ignored the “pay the debt” calls from the bankers and their fans. He stimulated the economy, grew it and created a surplus in the process.

The moral of the story: when you cry “debt” you advocate for the banks (you know, the ones we bailed out after putting our economy in crisis). Paying your debt at the expense of your life, economy is no virtue. Just a very stupid thing to do. You get no medals for it. Just misery.

P.S. Social security is NOT an entitlement – it’s something we all paid into. We are entitled to it as a consequence of our payments, not some lazy bum notion as your video implies.

So, America is waking up – hopefully the bank memes will be also shed by those of the 99% who are deluded into thinking they are 1%